Introduction:

It is widely recognized that women and young people bear the brunt of conflicts and wars all over the world. They suffer untold hardship, displacement, movement restriction, violence, burden of care for the wounded, destitution, rape and physical violence in addition to being drafted as combatants. Women are thus deeply touched and concerned about peace keeping issues. Security Council (SC) resolution 1325 defines an expanded role for women and expresses its willingness to incorporate a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations and urges the Secretary-General to ensure that, where appropriate, field operations include a gender component. Also, it calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements, and to take into account the particular needs of women and girls, including in their design; encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and male ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependants; reaffirms its readiness, whenever measures are adopted under Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, to give consideration to their potential impact on the civilian population, bearing in mind the special needs of women and girls, in order to consider appropriate humanitarian exemptions; expresses its willingness to ensure that Security Council missions take into account gender considerations and the rights of women, including through consultation with local and international women's groups; invites the Secretary-General to carry out a study on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution, and further invites him to submit a report to the Security Council on the results of this study and to make this available to all Member States of the United Nations; requests the Secretary-General, where appropriate, to include in his reporting to the Security Council, progress on gender mainstreaming throughout peacekeeping missions and all other aspects relating to women and girls.[1]

At the beginning of the 20^th Century, the World’s population was less than 2 billion people. Each year, it increases by about 80 million people. It is projected to rise to 7 billion by the end of 2011 and 9.3 billion by 2050. The largest increase is projected to be in Africa where total fertility rate (TFR) is more than 5 in over 20 countries.

Africa accounts for 20% of the World’s population and by all measures, is the fastest growing continent. Most countries in West Africa have TFRs between 3.0 and 8.0 - Ghana, 3.48; Liberia, 5.13; Sierra Leone, 4.94; Nigeria, 2.73; Benin, 5.33; Togo, 4.69; Mali, 7.38 and Niger, 7.37. Though the current TFRs represent a decline in the number of births per woman over the years, they do not indicate a decline in population growth as is the case in developed countries where TFRs have fallen dramatically below 2.6 in most instances.

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa with a current population of over 158 million will maintain its first position with a projected population of at least 289 million by 2050. Nigeria is expected to overtake the population of the US by 2050 even though its total land area of 923,000 square kilometers is only one tenth of that occupied by the US.  The impoverished and drought-prone West African country Niger is projected to have a meteoric population rise from 16 million to 58 million by 2050 at the current population growth rate. This could portend massive food insecurity, social and environmental problems for the small Sahelian country.

Course Overview

 WERHC is pleased to announce its innovative course entitled: Promoting Development through Effective and Transformative Gender Trainings: A Training of Facili-Trainers. WGI is an initiative geared towards building a critical mass of gender equality specialists around the globe, especially in Africa. Through WGI and other tailor-made courses, WERHC is poised to transform indigenous organizations into vibrant entities that deliver quality results in a timely and accountable manner.  This course which brings together a total of 30 participants from all over Africa, is tailor-made for trainers, potential trainers, Gender Focal Persons, staff of Gender Equality departments, gender equality advocates, mentors, team leaders, programme/project managers and coordinators, middle to senior executives with facilitating responsibilities and marketing managers.